


a thousand years

by galaxy_houseplants



Series: Carry On Countdown 2018 [28]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Dancing, Dinner Parties, Fluff, Mild Angst, Multi, Music, Slow Dancing, deniall implied, lots of characters mentioned but not present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 10:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17098811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxy_houseplants/pseuds/galaxy_houseplants
Summary: tired slow dancing in the kitchen after a dinner party





	a thousand years

**Author's Note:**

> COC day 28!

“Penny and Micah got home safely, I just got a text from them.” Simon said softly in the quiet kitchen, sitting down at the countertop opposite where Baz was washing up after their dinner party. “So did Agatha, and Trixie and Keris. Haven’t heard from Dev and Niall, but I didn’t expect to anyway.”

“That’s good. It’s late.” Baz replied. The kitchen was warm, from cooking and the oven and the number of people who had been in the house, and the fireplace blazing in the living room. The heat wasn’t too much, though- between that and the snow falling in the pitch-dark night, the entire house felt like a cozy safe haven from everything. Though it had been years since the Mage’s death, it still felt so comforting to have a place where nothing and nobody could hurt them. 

The heat was nice, too, because since losing his magic, Simon never quite felt warm enough. His whole life he had run hot from the sheer amount of power always threatening to spill over and the effort it took to prevent that. Without that explosive lava flow of magic, he felt like he was just a little too cold all the time and he hated it.  _ If this is how Baz feels all the time,  _ Simon thought once,  _ then I will never forgive myself for always leaving the window open at Watford. _

Music was playing quietly from the speaker in the corner of the room- it was a playlist of mood music that Baz had spent much longer than necessary pouring over to set the tone of the evening. Coming to the end of the night meant the playlist was also ending, and for the last few tunes Baz had added quiet love songs- ones Baz knew he and Simon loved and felt that they related to. It was a good move- watching Simon quietly sing along to Chasing Cars was well worth doing all the washing up on his own. 

“Here, I feel bad that you’re doing all that, I’ll dry.” Simon picked up a blue tea-towel and started on the pile of pots and pans and plates that Baz had already cleaned, still singing to the music (now Ho Hey by The Lumineers) in his low voice.

The pure domesticity of the whole scene might have been enough to make Simon melt, even though he had really initiated it. Just the working together and quiet singing along to love songs and not needing to fill the space with words. It was so simple, but so much more than he had ever expected from his life, more than he had ever imagined he would get when he thought he was supposed to end up with Agatha. This existence with Baz was almost the complete opposite of where he thought he would be, but dear  _ Merlin  _ was it amazing, just living and loving and being happy under millions of stars and not having to worry about impending war or the bloody Humdrum.

“This is nice.” Baz said after ten minutes of the most comfortable silence, taking off the gloves he insisted on wearing to wash up and draping them over the tap to dry. Simon put down his tea-towel and turned to face him. 

“It is. Good song choices, love. They’re all very romantic.” He said, smiling. The song changed to the Twenty One Pilots cover of Can’t Help Falling In Love, which Baz knew was one of Simon’s favourites. 

“Crowley, not this song.” Simon said, to Baz’s surprise.

“Why? I thought you liked it?”

“I do! It just tends to make me emotional, is all.” Baz laughed and draped his arms over Simon’s shoulders and pulled him close. Simon wrapped his around Baz’s waist and gently swayed back and forth, humming the words. He pressed his face into his shoulder and the crook of his neck, just the right height for them to fit together perfectly. 

Baz had always felt like the two of them were a perfect match. Where Baz was all dark, the moon, the archetypal villain, Simon was the golden sun (as he liked to say all the time, much to Simon’s embarrassment). Baz always used to feel cold, and Simon warm, and between them they found a happy medium. Baz helped Simon dress up fancy for formal events, and SImon’s influence made Baz enjoy lounging in comfy clothes, to his family’s annoyance. They could both cope with being around others for longer when they were together. Maybe that was codependent. Maybe it wasn’t great. But  _ Crowley  _ was it lovely to have a person you could spend hours with and talk to constantly and never get sick of, and have them feel the same about you.

The playlist came to the final song, A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, and Baz lifted his arm to twirl Simon around. He followed the movement, ending up with his back pressed to Baz’s front, their arms crossed over at the front. He twirled back out and held Baz close again- surprisingly graceful considering how clumsy he usually was.

“How are you more coordinated when you’re tired?” Baz asked, softly, as his mouth was very close to Simon’s ear and he didn’t want to be too loud and make him pull away. 

“No clue. Maybe you’ve just rubbed off on me.”

“I think we’ve rubbed off on each other. Did I tell you that this song used to make me cry when we were at Watford?”

“No, why?” Simon replied, lifting his head to look Baz in the eyes.

“Because the lines about  _ ‘I have died everyday waiting for you’ _ , et cetera, et cetera, used to really hit home because I never thought you would ever like me back, and it physically hurt to fight with you for all those years. And then when I got kidnapped in eighth year, the only thing that kept me alive for those weeks was thinking of you. And then we actually did end up together, so it’s got a much nicer meaning now.”

“God, your tragic backstory gets more and more sad every time I hear a new part of it.” Simon said, looking at the floor. “But I’m glad it doesn’t make you sad anymore. And now you can associate this with it.” He leaned upwards, standing on his toes, and kissed him, making him bend back a little. It was just like their first kiss in so many ways- like a star had just exploded in the best way possible. But it was more gentle, less desperate and frantic like it had been back then. That kiss was to keep Baz from committing suicide. This one was to kill those memories of that time of their lives, and almost to start a new chapter, one that didn’t have life-or-death stakes and that was so much better than anything Baz could ever have imagined.

The song came to an end, and Simon pulled away, Baz’s lips a little pink. He pressed their foreheads together.

“Thank you, Simon. I love you so much.”

“I love you so much too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I am absolutely exhausted, let’s go to bed.”

“Alright. I dibs big spoon.” Baz said. Simon chuckled, walking towards their room. Baz caught up to him and grabbed his hand.

“Fair enough. You’re taller. Let’s go.” Simon switched the kitchen light off and swung the door shut with a click. They both fell asleep feeling happier than they had been in a long time, the weight on their chests that had been left by the Mage and Humdrum just a little lighter, and that was all they needed.

**Author's Note:**

> As of today, I have officially finished writing all of my works for the COC. It's been fun!  
> The last day is actually a drawing so yay
> 
> My tumblr is [galaxy-houseplants](https://galaxy-houseplants.tumblr.com).
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
